The present invention relates to hose clamps and, more particularly, to hose clamps with projecting finger members and retaining barbs within the clasp or grip to sandwich and retain the clamp's elongated strip within the clasp in a use position.
Several type of hose clamps or the like exist in the art and have been utilized for various applications. The following patents illustrate clamps in the art. They are U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,003,907; 2,424,656; 2,495,667; 2,935,773; 3,385,299; 3,860,997; 4,263,697; 4,377,879; 4,477,950; 4,567,626; 4,577,375; and French Pat No. 7421081. While these clamps are satisfactory for their particular applications, designers are always looking for other solutions.
The present invention provides the art with a hose clamp which includes a clasp or grip housing on an elongated strip. The housing includes a pair of side walls and a top spanning the side walls enclosing the housing. The side walls have one or more barb members to lock or retain the strip within the housing. The strip includes a finger member projecting from the strip. The strip's finger member extends into the housing. The top includes one or more finger members. The finger members suspend from the top into the housing. The strip and top projecting finger members sandwich the strip between the finger members to seat the strip within the housing. This seating enables the strip to mesh with the barbs on the side walls. The barbs lock and retain the strip within the clasp.
Thus, the present invention provides the art with a hose clamp which enables easy securement of the clamp onto a hose or the like. The clamp also enables ready removal of the clamp from the hose or the like. The clamp design provides a friction lock so that ordinarily no tools are needed to secure the clamp onto an article. However, on low clamp load applications, tool are required to tighten the clamp to affect a seal of .apprxeq.200 lbs. Further, the clamp may be manufactured from a metallic or plastic material as desired.
From the subsequent detailed description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the drawings, other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.